Razor-blade



W. E. OR EILLY.

RAZOR BLADE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13. 1919.

"1,3 5,579, Patented July 26, 1921.

"I 2: t f lrw g h l 5 1 i 5 WITH E885 INVENTOR WMLW 53.0mm

A TTORNEYS culty, when inserting the blade, in immedi- STATES WILLIAM EDMUND OREILLY, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

RAZOR-BLADE.

i To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM EDMUND OREILLY, a subject of the King of England, and a resident of London, England have invented a new and Improved Razor-blade, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to safety razors in which a blade of the so-called wafer.type is employed, and it refers particularly to razors of this type in which the blade is so secured to the blade holder as to permit it tobe readily swung into a position clear of the holder for cleaning purposes or removal therefrom.

It has already been proposed in razors of this type to provide an inclined slot in the blade engaging a projection upon a member resiliently retaining the blade upon the guard by which means the blade may be swung into a position clear of the bladeholder for cleaning purposes, or may be withdrawn by giving it a slight longitudinal and forward; movement. In that arrangement, however, there are, except when the blade is completely swung out, no positive means retaining the blade in the bladeholder, since itis held only by the friction of the resilient retaining member, which sometimes proves insuflicient to prevent its coming out unintentionally, if unskilfully swung around. Moreover, it is not practicable to provide the blade with means of the above kind at both ends, so enabling it to be swung out to either side.

It has further been proposed, in razors of the same type, to provide the blade with a perforation designed to be resiliently engaged by a projection upon the bladeholder, which projection is so shaped and arranged at an angle with respect to the line of the bladeholder that the blade can be inserted or withdrawn by movement toward .the center and front of the bl'adeholder. lVith this arrangement, however, there is a certain diffiately finding the proper engagement between the perforation and the projection, as there are no means of leading the blade into the correct position, moreover, in inserting the blade, or withdrawing it, the whole thickness of the blade has to be forced over the projection against the resilient resistance of the retaining member, a procedure requiring an inconvenient degree of force, and,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 26, 192-1. 1919. Serial No. 303,857.

moreover, as the blade has to be withdrawn by a movement toward the center and front of the bladeholder, it is not practicable to provide for the blade to be swung out to either side.

These two forms of razors are illustrated in my former British Patents, Nos.'117,058 and 112,089, and United States Patent No. 1,294,149.

The present invention has for an object a form of blade which presents an improvement on the first type described, in that the blade can be withdrawn only upon being swung lnto the proper position, but normally is prevented from accidental removal.

Another object of this invention is to present an improvement over the second type of razor blade and holder in that the blade may be inserted or withdrawn without using any inconvenient degree of force.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a finger grip which will render it possible to conveniently handle the blade.

. A final object of the invention is the construction of a blade which shall be made in such a manner that the liability of the user cutting himself while properly handling the blade is reduced to almost an impossibility.

Reference is bad to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one practical embodiment of my invention, and in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a blade constructed in accordance with the same; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of a certain portion of the blade.

In these views like reference numerals designate similar-parts, and the reference numeral 1 indicates the body of a blade formed with an edge 2.

It will readily be appreciated that a small object like the blade of a razor is difficult to handle, particularly so when the hands may have a thin coating of moisture upon them incident to shaving; and for this reason I have provided a suitable construction which will greatly facilitate the handling of the blades, together with lessening the danger of cutting the operators fingers. This construction may conveniently take the form of notches, such as 3, which are formed in the side walls 4 of the body of the blade. To further insure the operator against accidental cutting while properly handling the blade. I cut, or otherwise remove, approximately one-sixteenth of an inch of the blade edge 2, continuing this cut to a point adj acent the lowermost wall of the notch 3. This construction is indicated by the reference numeral 5, and it will be appreciated that after I have made this cut, or otherwise removed the material from the portion of the blade I properly dull the same, so that the danger of accidental cutting is eliminated.

The rear edge or back 6 of the blade is provided with slots 6', spaced apart, each slot having a straight face 7 and a longer straight face 7' parallel thereto for the length of the short straight face, the faces 7 and 7 being connected by a circular face 8, the faces 7 and 7 forming a straight portion of the slot, and the connecting face 8 forming with the face 7 a rounded portion of the slot connected with the straight portion, and the curvature of the rounded portion of each slot being in direction opposite to that of the adjacent slot and toward the adjacent side of the blade. A slot such as this may be provided in the rear edge 6, ad- 'acent each of the side Walls, as shown in The razor bladeholder is of the type illustrated in my United States Patent No.

1,294,149, and'same is preferably formed with outstanding projections, such as indicated by the reference numeral 9, which projections are engageable in the slots 6, and are provided with a rounded face 9' and a flat face 10.

In operation it will now be seen, assuming that the blade is in position in the bladeholder and it is desired to remove the same for cleaning or other purposes, the blade may be gripped by means of the notches 3 and swung so that the long straight face 7 of the keyhole slot is parallel to the portion 10 of the projection 9, whereupon it will be readil apparent that the blade may be slipped rom out of the holder, in that the projection will offer less resistance to the removal of the blade when the latter is in this position. It will be appreciated that accidental removal is almost impossible, when the blade is properly positioned, in that the spring in the bladeholder, such as illustrated in my aforementioned United States patent, will firmly retain the blade in position, and should a pull be exerted upon the same, such pull would be imparted to the edges of the slot and to the face more generally contacting with the projection. Assuming now that it is simply desired to wipe the cutting edge 2 of the blade, it will be seen that it is not necessary to entirely remove the blade, but it will be apparent that the same may be swung around the projection 10 to any desired position.

It is to be understood that the projection 10, which is illustrated in position in the keyhole slot, is preferably applied to one of the slots in the blade only, and, in fact, such blade might be made with one slot alone and be secured in position at its opposite end by any suitable means. Further, it is to be appreciated that the notches .3

may be cut in any place in the side edges of the blade; and, finally, that the construction of this blade may be varied in any number of ways without in the least departin from the scope of my invention.

aving thus described my invention, I desire to claim:

1. A razor blade comprising a cutting edge, sides, and a back provided with slots spaced apart, each of said slots having a straight portion and rounded portion connecting therewith, the curvature of the rounded portion of each slot being toward the adjacent sideof the blade.

2. A razor blade comprising a cutting edge, sides, and a back provided with slots spaced apart, each of said slots having a straight portion and a rounded portion connecting therewith the curvature of the rounded portion of each slot being in direction opposite to that of the adjacent slot and toward the adjacent side of the blade; and said cutting edge being cut away at the end thereof adjacent to each side of the .blade and such cut away portions being dulled. 4

3. A razor blade comprising a. cutting edge, sides, and a back provided with slots spaced apart, each of said slots having a. short straight face and a long straight face parallel thereto for the length of the short straight face, the straight faces being connected by a circular face, the straight faces forming a straight portion of the slot and the circular face forming with the long straight face a rounded ortion of the slot connectmg with the straig t portion, the curvature of the rounded portion of each slot being in direction opposite to that of the adjacent slot and toward the adjacent side of the.

straight face and a long straight face parallel thereto for the length of the short straight face, the straight faces being connected by a circular face, the straight faces forming a straight portion of the slot and the circular face forming with the long straight face a rounded portion of the slot connecting with the straight portion, the curvature of the rounded portlon of each slot being in direction opposite to that of the adjacent slot and toward the adjacent side of the blade.

5. A razor blade for use with an associated safety holder provided with projections each of which has a rounded faceand a fiat face, said blade comprising a cutting edge, sides, and a back provided with slots for receiving therein the projections of said holder; each of said. slots having a short straight face and a long straight face parallel thereto for the length of the short straight face, the straight faces being connected by a circular face, the straight faces forming a straight portion of the slot and the circular face forming with the long straight face a rounded portion of the slot connecting with the straight portion, and the curvature of the rounded portion of each slot being in direction opposite to that of the adjacent slot and toward the adjacent side of the blade. 4 e 6. A razor blade for-use with an associated safety holder, saidblade comprising a cutting edge, sides and a back, the back being provided with slots therein, said slots being spaced apart and each slot having a short straight face, a long straight face parallel thereto, and a circular face portion connecting the short and'long straight faces, the curvature of the connecting face portion being toward the adjacent side of the blade; and the associated safety holder being provided with projections engageable in said slots, each projection having a, rounded face and a fiat face, the rounded faces of the projections being engageable with the connecting face portions of the slots of the blade to retain the projections in said slots and the blade in the holder, and said blade being movable to bring the long straight faces of the slots into engagement with the fiat faces of the projections of the holder for removal of the blade from the holder.'

7. A razor blade for use with an associated safety holder, said blade comprising a cutting edge, sides and a back, the back being provided with slots therein, said slots being spaced apart and each slot having a short straight face, a long straight face parallel thereto, and a circular face portion connecting the short and long straight faces, the curvature of the connecting portion being toward the adjacent side of the blade; the associated safetly holder being provided with projections engageable in said slots, each projection having a rounded face and'a flat face, the rounded faces of the projections being engageable with the connecting face portions of the slots of the blade to retain the projections in said slots and the blade in the holder, and said blade being movable to bring the long straight faces of theslots into engagement with the flat faces of the projections of the holder for removal of the blade from the holder; said blade being provided with a notch in each side of the blade for thereby! grasping the blade, and the cutting edge of the blade being cut away at the end thereof adjacent to each side of tihenbjiade and such cut away portions being 11 e y I WILLIAM EDMUND OREILLY, 

